Durham School team wins ASHRAE 2011 Student Design Competition

Students in UNL’s Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction won first place in the HVAC System Design  category  of  the 2011 Student Design Project Competition conducted by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

The UNL team’s submission, a 25-page technical report, surpassed seven other teams competing at the national level in this ASHRAE event. The 2011 project involved designing an HVAC system focusing on energy efficiency for The Drake Well Museum: a 20,000-square-foot facility in Titusville, Pa., where Edwin L. Drake drilled the world's first oil well in 1859 and launched the modern petroleum industry. Entries were required to determine heating and cooling loads, and demonstrate compliance with relevant ASHRAE Standards.

UNL's team—architectural engineering students Holly Brink, Gina Halbom, Michael Crabb, Andrew Gilliam, James Dougherty—was advised by Nebraska Engineering professor emeritus Gren Yuill and mentored by Nebraska Engineering alumnus Joe Hazel with Farris Engineering and Daniel Karnes with HDR Inc. The award includes a $2,000 prize for the team and a trip for one team member to be recognized at ASHRAE’s winter meeting in Chicago in January 2012.

The University of Nebraska Student Chapter of ASHRAE is affiliated with the Nebraska professional chapter of ASHRAE.